Cap feeding apparatus



Dec. 3, 1957 c. DAY ETAL 1 2,815,148

' CAP FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS.

ATTORNEYAS 1957 c. L. DAY ETAL I 2,815,148

' CAP FEEDING APPARATUS I Filed Aug. 28, 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS:

Ryder 1307c EFjzuZ'h ATTORNEYS.

' 1 c. 1... DAY ETAL 2,815,148

CAP FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 3. INVENTORS;gar} L Dag, fipdeiy'ckEEhui'h MMJJ w ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 3, 1957 c. DAY EIAL CAP FEEDING APPARATUS 7 Shets-Sheet 4 FrpdezjElihu-Eh, BY

Filed Aug. 28. 1952 ATTORNEYS.

Dean. 3, 1957 c. 1.. DAY ETAL 2,815,148

CAP FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTORS.

Qaigl L. D a y, y E ede .Eifijaui'h,

ATTORNEY-5'.

Dec. 3, 1957 v 3. L. DAY ETAL CAP FEEDING APPARATUS 7 Sheets-Sheet 6Filed Aug. 28. 1952 I iNVlNTORS: G e 1u .Fbedezic EiFuui'h,

ATTORNEYS I 1957 C. L. DAY- EIAL 2,81

CAP FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1952 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 A TORNEYS.

2,815,148 Patented Dec. 3, 1957 CAP FEEDING APPARATUS Carl L. Day andFrederick E. Fauth, Baltimore, Md., assignors to Crown Cork & SealCompany, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of New York ApplicationAugust 28, 1952, Serial No. 306,806 16 Claims. (Cl. 221-173) The presentinvention relates to cap feeding apparatus and, more particularly, toapparatus for feeding caps provided with pivoted locking levers operableto firmly clamp the cap upon a container mouth.

Some difliculties heretofore have been encountered in the application oflocking lever equipped caps to continuously moving containers,especially when it has been desired to so apply the caps that thelocking lever of each cap will be in the same position with respect tothe circumference of the container mouth.

The present invention is particularly useful in the feeding of lockinglever equipped caps such as disclosed in Williams Patent No. 1,743,945,issued January 14, 1930, and Williams Patent No. 1,871,831, issuedFebruary 6, 1932.

A cap of the type disclosed in the Williams patent includes a skirtwhich is contractible by downward movement of a pivoted locked lever soas to enable the cap to be firmly clamped upon a container mouth. Beforesuch a cap is applied to the container, the locking lever must be inupward or non-locking position. After the cap has been applied to thecontainer, the locking lever will be swung downwardly and outwardlythrough substantially 180 so that it will extend downwardly from thecap. An apparatus for applying such caps, forcing them to sealedposition, and then moving the locking levers to locking position isdisclosed in Mair Patents Nos. 2,351,348 and 2,351,349, both issued June13, 1944.

When caps of the above-mentioned type are applied to bottles which arenot circular in horizontal section, for eX- ample, bottles including twodiametrically opposite flat sides, or to bottles which are elliptical incross-section, it is desirable to have the locking lever lie along avertical line which intersects a fiat Wall of the bottle. If the lockinglever of each capped bottle is positioned in this manner, the lockinglever more readily can be operated by the capping machine. Even if thebottles are of round cross-section and move directly in a line to amechanism which will move the locking levers to locking position, it isdesirable to have every locking lever lie in the same plane with respectto the line along which the containers move. By this latter arrangement,all of the containers will move to the locking lever operating mechanismwith their locking levers positioned in the same vertical plane withrespect to the locking lever operating mechanism.

An important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus whichwill position or orient locking lever equipped caps so that all of thelocking levers will lie in the same plane.

Difficulties heretofore have been involved in mechanically feedinglocking lever equipped caps to a capping chute and it usually has beenthe practice to place such caps in the capping chute by hand so thattheir locking levers all will lie in thesame plane.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap feeding apparatus tohandle locking lever equipped caps and which is of such design andconstruction that the caps may be delivered thereto at random, but onlycaps facing in the desired direction and with their locking leversproperly oriented will be moved through a chute for application to thecontainers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap feeding mechanismfor locking lever equipped caps which is of such construction and designas to avoid difliculties heretofore involved in the handling of suchcaps.

The handling oflocking lever equipped caps involves numerousdifiiculties which do not arise in the manipulation of the usual skirtedtype of cap, whether of the crown, threaded, or lug type. Most of thedifficulties naturally arise because of the presence upon the cap of alocking lever projecting upwardly from the cap skirt. As is indicatedabove, the present invention includes arrangements to minimize suchdifficulties.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing specification. and accompanying drawings. i

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front view of the apparatus, the view showing the Figure 2structure as viewed from the left. A portion of the view is in verticalaxial section.

Figure 2 is anend view of the apparatus, the view looking toward Figure1 in the plane of the arrow 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view of the end of the apparatus which appears at the leftof Figure l, the view being taken in the plane indicated by the arrow 3of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 1. t 1

Figure 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4. I

Figure 6 is a detail view showing an agitator included in the apparatus.

Figure 7 shows the agitator in top plan, with portions in radialsection:

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail view of the cap orienting mechanism whichappears on a smaller scale in the upper portion of Figure 2.

Figure 9 is an elevation of a locking lever equipped cap of the type tobe handled by the present apparatus.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary vertical section of the cap feeding chute onthe line 10-10 of Figure 2, Figure 10 being on an enlarged scale. Figure10 also is a section on the line 10a-10a of Figure 11.

Figure 11 is an enlarged elevation of the portion of the cap chuteillustrated in Figure 10. Figure 11 is taken looking toward Figure 10from the right and has portions broken away.

Figures 12 and 13 are detail views finger included in Figures 10 and 11,taken at right angles to each other.

Figure 14 is a front elevation of a cap applying mechanism provided atthe lower end of the cap chute.

Figure 15 is a sectional view on the line 15-15 of Figure 14.

Figure 16 is a detail-showing of the cap retaining device, the viewlooking toward Figure 14 from the left and,

Figure 17 is a bottom view of the Figure 16 structure.

Referring to Figure l, the apparatus of the present invention generallycomprises a hopper 20 of trough-like form and which is arranged with itsaxis tilted so that the hopper will be inclined downwardly toward itsleft-hand end. Hopper 20 will be supported in this position upon of acap pick-up the two views being a post 24 having its upper end fitted ina. supporting bracket 26 which is secured to the lower portion of thehopper. The lowermost or left-hand end of hopper 20 opens to an agitatorchamber 28 having an agitator 30 rotatable therein, the agitator beingof the form illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 to include a druru fal'having radial blades 32 extending therethrough. Caps placed in thehopper 28 will move by gravity into the agitator chamber 28 to bestirred by the agitator 30 moving in the direction of the arrowappearing in Figure 4. As a result, the caps will be lifted through theopening 34 in the top portion of the agitator chamber and into contactwith the rotating disc 36. Disc 36 is of substantially greater diameterthan the hopper and agitator chamber and is provided with a series ofmagnetic inserts 38 arranged adjacent its periphery in circumferentialseries. Therefore, caps adhering to disc 36 will be moved upwardly withthe disc as indicated in Figure 8. The disc preferably will be coveredwith a polished, thin plate so that the disc surface to which capsadhere will be perfectly smooth.

It will be observed that the structure described above is substantiallysimilar to that disclosed in our application for Container SealingApparatus, Serial No. 295,024, filed June 23, 1953, now Patent No.2,734,672, issued February 14, 1956. However, as is hereinafterdescribed, the present apparatus includes arrangements particularlydesigned for the handling of caps C of the type illustrated in Figure 9and which include a skirted body B and a locking lever L. In somewhatmore detail, the present invention includes arrangements to facilitatethe movement of such caps into the agitator chamber 28 as well as themeans illustrated in Figure 8 and hereinafter described to insure thatthe caps will be delivered to the cap chute 40 with their locking leverstrailing and without jamming at the chute infeed. The present inventionalso includes the structures illustrated in Figures to 16 forfacilitating stripping of the caps from the disc 36 and for applying thecaps to the containers.

Referring now to the detail structure of the hopper 20, it will beobserved from Figures 1 and 2 (the latter of which views the hopper ofFigure 1 from the right and along its axis) that the hopper includes afront wall 42, including a downwardly inclined lower portion 44 whichmerges with a curved bottom wall 46 formed on the same radius as therear wall 48. The right-hand or uppermost end of hopper 20 is closed byan end wall 50. The upper edges of the front wall 42, end wall 50, andrear wall 48 are defined by a flange 52 which, when the apparatus ismounted as shown in Figure 1, will lie in a horizontal plane, the bottomwall 46 then being inclined downwardly away from the end wall 50. Asbest shown in Figure 3, the mounting bracket 26 projects downwardly fromthe left-hand end of the bottom wall portion 46 at the rearward side ofthe hopper. As is also illustrated in Figures 1 and 4, hopper 20 may beprovided with a closure 54 through which caps may be removed from thehopper. Closure 54 is hinged at its lower edge as indicated at 58 inFigure 4 and normally is latched closed by the latch 60. When closure 54is dropped downwardly, it will serve as a chute along which caps may beremoved from the hopper.

The lower end of the hopper 20 is open to the agitator housing 28,through an arcuate opening 64 shown in Figures 4 and 5 and definedbetween the adjacent end wall 62 of housing 28 and the edge of a plate86 lying against wall 62. A shaft 65 is journalled in the end wall 50and, as shown in Figure 5, in the casting forming the agitator housing28. Within the housing 28, shaft 65 has the agitator 30 secured thereto.Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the opposite end of shaft 65, outwardly ofhopper 50, carries a sprocket wheel 66 normally held keyed to shaft 65by an overload clutch device including a spring 68. If any jam occurs,spring 68 will release wheel 66 from driving engagement with shaft 65. Asprocket chain 69 drives sprocket 66 from a second wheel 70 fixed to anupper and parallel shaft 72 which extends the length of the apparatusand has the disc 36 fixed to its lower and left-hand end. Drive isimparted to the disc and the abovementioned shafts by means of a belt 74which engages a peripheral groove in the disc and also engages a grooveddriving pulley device 76 secured to the shaft of a motor 78. Motor 78 iscarried by a baseplate 80 pivoted at its lower edge to a surroundingplate 82 fixed to the bracket 26. By this arrangement, the pulley device76 will engage the belt 74 by reason of the weight of the motor. Thebelt 74 may be placed in any one of a number of pulley grooves tothereby drive the disc and other movable parts of the apparatus at aselected speed.

As has been stated above, caps sliding downwardly in the hopper 20 willmove against the lower end wall 62 and plate 86 which form the outerwall of the agitator housing. As best shown in Figure 4, the interior ofhousing 28 is bounded by a circular wall 84 of slightly smaller diameterthan the width of the hopper 28 to thereby conform to the radius of thearms 32 carried by agitator 30. However, as is illustrated in Figure 5,the upper righthand portion of the circular wall 84 is provided with anopening 34 and is enlarged in diameter as indicated at 85 so that capsmay move upwardly out of the agitator housing 28 to contact with disc36. As is clear from Figure 5, opening 34 is of greatest width at itslower portion 87. Caps will enter housing 28 from hopper 20 through thearcuate opening 64. As has been stated above, in the embodimentillustrated, the end wall 62 of the agitator housing 28 also includes aplate 86 which overlies the upper portion of the opening 64 to limit thearcuate length of that opening to substantially 140. The inner radialboundary of the opening 64 is defined by the arcuate edge 88 whichconforms to the outer diameter of the impeller drum 31. The extreme endsof the impeller blades 32 will be closely adjacent the circular wall 84of the agitator housing as indicated in Figure 4, though the ends of theblades may be curved as indicated in Figures 6 and 7 to recede from wall84. The blades include V-shaped trailing extensions 32a. Caps movinginto the housing through opening 64 will gather between the circularwall 84 and the agitator drum 31, being carried around with drum 31 bythe arms 32 for passage through the upper opening 34. The provision ofdrum 31 in agitator 30 will limit the number of caps which may bepresent in the agitator housing 28.

Because of the locking lever L on each cap C of Figure 9, caps enteringagitator housing 28 through opening 64 may tend to become nested orcaught upon the edge 88 of plate 86. In order to obviate this, astripper cam 90 is fixed to shaft 64 immediately adjacent the wall 62but within hopper 20. Cam 90 is circular but is eccentrically mounted onthe shaft 65 so that a portion 92 will project past the edge 88 ofarcuate opening 64. Therefore, as shaft 65 rotates, the cam portion 92of greatest radius will periodically move along the edge 88 to therebyremove caps from that edge.

As is best shown in the upper left-hand portion of Figure 4, agitatorhousing 28 includes an upwardly extending web 94 which lies adjacentdisc 36 and supports a metal sheet 96 so that the latter is inclineddownwardly away from the disc 36. Hence, caps which fall from the upperportion of disc 36 upon plate 96 will drop back into the hopper 20. Web94 includes another downwardly inclined surface 98 along which caps mayslide onto the upper portion of the circular wall 84 to either fall backinto the agitator housing 28 through opening 34 or fall off the housing28 and into hopper 20. A strip 97 shown in Figures 1 and 4 directs suchcaps toward the center of hopper 20.

As is described in said Patent No. 2,734,672, caps moved outwardly andupwardly from housing 28 through opening 34 will adhere to the magneticinserts 38 of the disc 36 to be carried upwardly by the disc. The upperedge of disc 36 moves within an arcuate strip 100 having its lower endfixed to the agitator housing 28 and its upper end secured to a post 102fixed to the upper and left-hand portion (Figure 2) of the agitatorhousing web 94. The strip 100 serves to enclose the upper portion of theedge of disc 36.

If two caps which have been moved from housing 28 become nested on amagnetic insert 38 of disc 36, the outermost cap will be removed by astripper blade 104 secured to the strip 100 and having its inner edgespaced from the disc a suflicient distance to permit thhe upstandinglocking lever L of one cap to pass beneath such edge with the disc. Thatis, if a second cap is lying upon the first cap, its locking lever Lwill strike the stripper blade 104 so that the second cap will drop.

Referring to Figure 8, it will be observed that caps C will be carriedupwardly above hopper 20 and agitator housing 28 and past plate 104 byadherence to the magnetic inserts 38. The caps will adhere to theinserts at random so that their locking levers L either may be uppermostor lowermost or at any conceivable angular relation, depending upon howthe cap is turned when it comes into contact with a magnetic insert.Some caps will have the edge of the skirt S (Figure 9) facing toward thedisc 36 so that the locking lever will project outwardly from the disc.Other caps will have the top walls C of their bodies B and the ends oftheir locking levers L closest to the disc. It will be understood thatthe locking lever of every cap will be in the unlocked positionillustrated in Figure 9 because no part of the apparatus will have suchforceful contact with the caps as to change the position of the lockinglever.

A guide bar 105 including a downwardly facing surface 106 is fixed toarcuate strip 100 so that surface 106 will be normal to the cap engagedsurface of disc 36 and will be parallel to a line tangential of thedisc. Also, surface 106 will lie on a secant of disc 36. The edge of bar105 which faces disc 36 will be closely adjacent the disc so that noportion of a cap can get between such edge and the disc. An angle stripincluding a flange 107 parallel to disc 36 has its other flange 108secured to surface 106 of bar 105, flange 107 being of such width thatits lower edge 109 will be parallel to and spaced from bar surface 106by a distance slightly greater than the overall diameter of the body Bof a cap C. The surface of flange 107 which faces disc 36 is spaced fromthe disc by a distance only slightly greater than the height of the bodyB of a cap C. It will be noted from Figure 8 that the surface 106 of bar105 is positioned slightly below the uppermost path of travel of themagnetic inserts 38.

If a cap moves upwardly with disc 36 and past the blade 104 with its topwall and the free end of its locking lever in contact with disc 36, sucha cap will be removed from the disc by contact with the edge 109 offlange 107. In more detail, the cap will be unable to move under flange107 and when the magnetic insert which is attracting the cap passesupwardly beneath and beyond guide bar 105, the cap will be freed fromthe 'disc.

Assume now that a cap C approaches bar 105 and flange 107 with the edgeS of its skirt bearing against the disc 36, but with its locking lever Luppermost as indicated by the cap at C of Figure 8. In such case, thelocking lever L will strike the lower edge 109 of flange 107, therebypreventing the cap from continuing upward movement with a magneticinsert. Therefore, as the magnetic insert moves upwardly beneath theflange, the cap will drop downwardly toward the hopper 20. If a lockinglever is positioned as indicated by the cap C of Figure 8, that is, toone side but still uppermost, the body B of the cap may move beneath theflange 107 until it comes closely adjacent surface 106, when it may turnso that the locking lever will be lowermost as indicated by the capshown at C in Figure 8. In any event, with the possible exception ofcaps which approach flange 107 with their locking levers directlyuppermost as indicated at C, most caps which approach flange 107 withthe edges of their skirts bearing upon the disc 36 will have theirbodies B moved beneath flange 107 and, as the rotation of disc 36continues,

will turn about their own axes to cause their locking levers L to be inthe downward position indicated by the cap designated C It will beobserved that though the magnetic inserts may move in a path which, atits highest point, is almost entirely above the surface 106 of guide bar105, nevertheless, the magnetic attraction will cause a cap to movealong with the inserts so that the edge of its body B will be heldupwardly adjacent but slightly spaced from the lower surface 106 ofguide bar 105. This action is due to the fact that the radius on whichthe magnetic inserts 38 are arranged is slightly greater than thedistance between the disc axis and the surface 106. Initially, thelocking lever may be in the position indicated by the cap C but the capthen will turn slightly in a counterclockwise direction as indicated bythe two caps to the left of cap C in Figure 8, this clockwise turningbeing due to the fact that the locking lever will drag along on edge109.

The caps moving to the left in Figure 8 beneath the flange 107' will bemaintained in such position by edge 109 of flange 107 that the lockinglevers will be in the same horizontal plane as the infeed portion of aslot provided in the cap chute 40. The infeed portion of cap chute 40 isformed by a plate 110 supported upon the bar 94, plate 110 lying in thesame plane as flange 107. The upper edge 112 of plate 110 is curved onsuch a radius that the highest point 114 of the edge is above thelowermost edge 109 of flange 107. Also, flange 187 is curved oppositeplate 110 as indicated at 116 to substantially conform to the curvatureof edge 112 and a space slightly greater than the diameter of the shankof a locking lever L is provided between edge 112 of plate 110 and therounded edge portion 116 of flange 107. The outfeed end of the edge 112and the outfeed end of the curved portion 116 of flange 187 are inalignment with the edges of flanges 118 and 120 which retain caps in theguide strips 122 and 124 of cap chute 40. It will be noted from Figure 2that the cap chute 40 curves downwardly at 125 on such radius that thechute lies inwardly of the downward path of travel of the magneticinserts 38. In other words, once the caps have moved between plate 110and the opposed curved edge 116 of flange 107, and thus are clear offlange 107, they no longer will be subject to the attraction of themagnetic inserts.

The action of the plate 110 and the curved edge 116 of flange 107 inorienting the caps to such position that they will move downwardlythrough chute 48 with their levers L at the trailing edge of the cap isas follows: As a cap moves to the left in Figure 8, with the upperportion of its skirt being pulled to the left, and its locking leverdragging in contact with the flange edge 109, the locking lever willmove into abutment with the righthand or infeed end of the edge 112 ofplate 118. At this instant, the magnetic insert to which the cap isadhering will move further to the left and will exert such attractionupon the uppermost portion of the cap skirt that the cap will be rotatedabout its own axis in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure8. In other words, the body of the cap will be drawn further to the leftWhile the locking lever is still bearing upon the infeed portion of edge112. When the cap has thus been rotated to such position that the capbody is entirely beneath plate 110 and the opposed portion of flange107, the locking lever will be free to move between the edges 112 and116. This position is intermediate that illustrated by the position ofthe caps C and C in Figure 8. The cap illustrated at position C inFigure 8 is still under the attraction of a magnetic insert as well asthe pressure of a cap at 0*. Because of the curvature of the edges 112and 116 and that of the opposing edges of the flanges 118 and 120 of capchute 40, the cap at C cannot turn further and must move downwardly inchute 40 with its locking lever L projecting between the edges of theflanges 118 and 120.

If the cap chute 40 is full of caps as illustrated in Figure 8, an othercap moving against the cap shown at C may create a jam because thesupposed cap cannot enter the chute. In addition, if the cap illustratedat C should be a little further to the left in Figure 8, the supposednext cap might become so engaged with cap C that it could not rotate toproperly oriented position with respect to the chute 46. In order toclear any jams thus created if chute do is filled and if other capsendeavor to enter'chute 4b, the invention includes the periodicallyoscillated stripper arm 126 best shown in Figure 8.

Ann 226 is pivoted on a stub shaft 128 which extends through the fixedstrip 1%. Arm 126 is enclosed by a wall 13d extending outwardly overguide bar 105 and the free end of bar 126 is provided with a downwardlyextending finger 132 which lies closely adjacent disc 36 and is movablethrough a slot in guide bar 105. Arm 1% has a spring 134 connected toits free end, the opposide end of the spring being connected to a rod136 fixed to post 94. Therefore, spring 134 normally holds arm 126 inthe upward position illustrated in Figure 8. Stub shaft 123 has a lever138 fixed thereto at the rearward side of disc 36, the position of lever138 being best illustrated in Figure 1. At its free end, lever 138carries a roller 140.

As is best shown in Figure 3, a cam plate 142 is fixed to the rearwardface of disc 36 by means of bolts 144. Cam 142 includes a suitablycurved edge 146 of such form that it will con-tact with roller Hi) tothereby move lever 13% downwardly against the action of spring 134. Thisdownward movement of lever 138 will cause the free end of arm 126 tomove downwardly, thereby causing the finger 132 to remove any caps whichare adjacent a cap blocking the infeed end of the plate 110. Forexample, the cap illustrated in position C of Figure 8, together withany caps adhering thereto, might be removed by the descent of the finger132. However, a cap very slightly to the left of the cap shown at Cwould not be contacted by finger 132 because it would be entirely withinthe chute.

If caps are being removed from the lower end of chute 49 at the samerate they are being fed to the chute by disc 36, no jams will occur atthe infeed of the chute. However, the provision of the stripper arm 126for actuation upon each rotation of disc 36 will clear any jamsoccurring by too rapid accumulation of caps at the chute infeed.

As has been. stated above, and as is illustrated in Figure 2, the capchute 4%) curves downwardly at 125 on such radius so that the portion14% thereof which lies in a vertical plane and which comprises the majorportion of the length of the chute lies inwardly of the path of travel rof the magnetic inserts 38. Caps moving through the curved portion 125will bear upon the surface of the disc as. However, as is illustrated inFigures 1 and it), at a point lying substantially on the horizontal linewhich intersects the axis of the disc the chute 40 diverges outwardlyfrom the disc. in order that the caps will be stripped from the discs atthis point, the chute includes the pick-off finger 150 illustrated inFigures to 13 and which lies in a circumferential groove 152 formed inthe opposed face of disc ea. As is clear from Figure 10, caps movingdownwardly in the chute and bearing against the disc will con-tact withthe inclined surface 154 of finger 15d to thereby be directed outwardlyfrom contact with disc 36 to move into the diverging portion of chute49. As is indicated in Figure l, the extreme lower portion 156 of chuteas is arranged at a very slight angle above the horizontal so thatcontainers moving beneath this portion of the chute may remove capstherefrom in usual fashion.

The lowermost or outfeed portion 156 of the chute may be provided withretaining fingers 160 which will hold the lowermost cap against movementfrom the chute until the skirt of the cap is contacted by the mouth of acontainer. Because of the close spacing between the overhanging flangesof the chute, the locking levers L cannot move sidewise in the chute.Hence, every cap will be applied to a container with its locking leverat the trailing side of the moving container.

As is indicated in Figure 1, bottles or other containers moving beneaththe outfeed end 156 of chute 40 on a conveyor will receive caps C. Thenthe containers may move, without turning, to an apparatus such as shownin said Mair patents and adapted to move the similarly facing lockinglevers to locked position.

The terminology used in the specification is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation, the scope of the invention beingdefined in the claims.

We claim:

1. In a cap orienting mechanism for caps including a skirted body and askirt-carried locking lever lying normal to the cap body top wall, adisc rotatable about a central axis and including a planar surface onwhich the caps will be supported, a cap receiving chute positionedadjacent the disc planar surface and including side walls adapted to beengaged by diametrically opposite portions of a cap skirt, the planarface of said disc being provided with magnetic inserts arranged incircular series, means to rotate said disc to move the magnetic insertstoward the infeed end of said chute, a first guide means fixed adjacentthe disc planar surface in alignment with the cap chute side wallfarthest from the disc axis, a second guide means parallel to said firstguide means and spaced therefrom toward the disc axis by a distanceslightly greater than the diameter of a cap so that when a cap skirt isadjacent said first guide means, its locking lever will be in contactwith said second guide means, said second guide means being spaced fromthe disc planar surface by a distance slightly greater than the heightof the cap body, each side wall of said chute including an overhangingflange, the opposed edges of the flanges being spaced apart by adistance corresponding to the diameter of the locking lever of a cap,the opposed edges of the flanges at the infeed portion of the chutebeing in alignment with said second guide means.

2. A mechanism of the character described in claim 1 wherein the opposededges of the chute flanges immediately beyond their infeed ends arecurved convexly with respect to the disc axis.

3. In a capping apparatus, a cap hopper, a disc at one end of saidhopper rotatable in a substantially vertical plane, said disc having aplanar face open to said hopper and provided with magnetic inserts towhich caps will adhere and arranged in a circular series of such radiusas to be movable upwardly in a path above the caps in said hopper, a capreceiving stationary chute positioned upon said face of the disc insubstantial alignment with an upper portion of the path of travel of themagnetic inserts to receive caps carried upwardly by the inserts, andstripper means movable across said surface of the disc and the path oftravel of caps with the inserts at a point in advance of the infeed endof said chute.

4. Apparatus of the character described in claim 3 wherein said meanscomprises a lever movable about a pivot fixed with respect to saidhopper.

5. Apparatus of the character described in claim 3 wherein said meanscomprises a lever movable about a pivot fixed with respect to saidhopper and a cam to operate said lever is fixed to said disc.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a cap hopper, a cap conveyingdisc rotatable in a substantially vertical plane, and means to move capsfrom the hopper and into contact with said disc including a chamberbounded by a circular wall formed on a substantially horizontal axis,one end of the circular wall being immediately adjacent the disc, a wallat the opposite end of the chamber, said last-mentioned wall having anopening therein through which caps may move into the chamber from saidhopper, an agitator device within the chamber rotatable about an axisparallel to the axis of said disc and said chamber, the upper portion ofthe circular wall of 9 said chamber being provided with an openingthrough which the caps may move with said disc.

7. An apparatus of the character described in claim 6 wherein said discis provided with magentic inserts spaced in circular series and movableadjacent the upwardly facing opening in said chamber.

8. An apparatus of the character described in claim 6 wherein theopening in the last-mentioned end wall of said chamber is of arcuateform.

9. An apparatus of the character described in claim 6 wherein theopening in the last-mentioned end wall of said chamber is of arcuateform and said agitator includes a circular drum of a diameter conformingto the inner edge of the arcuate opening.

10. An apparatus of the character described in claim 6 including meansrotatable with said agitator device to periodically move across theopening in said end wall.

11. An apparatus of the character described in claim 6 wherein theopening in the end wall of said chamber is of arcuate form and includinga circular disc eccentrically rotatable with said agitator device toperiodically move along the inner edge of the arcuate opening.

'12. A capping apparatus for skirted caps including a cap hopper, a discat one end of said hopper rotatable in a vertical plane, said dischaving a planar face movable past one end of said hopper and providedwith magnetic inserts to which caps will adhere, the magnetic insertsbeing arranged in a circular series of such radius as to be movableupwardly in a path above the caps in said hopper, a cap receiving chuteincluding a portion positioned upon said face of the disc and with itsinfeed end in alignment with the path of travel of the magnetic inserts,said chute curving downwardly in contact with said disc and inwardly ofthe path of travel of the inserts, said chute including a lower portiondiverging outwardly from the surface of the disc, and means positionedin said chute adjacent the point of divergence to strip caps from thedisc.

13. An apparatus of the character described in claim 12 wherein saidstripper means is an upwardly facing pointed element, and the planarface of said disc includes a circular groove into which said elementprojects.

*14. In a cap orienting mechanism for caps including a skirted body anda skirt-carried locking lever lying normal to the cap top wall, a diskrotatable about a substantially horizontal axis and including a planarfa'ce provided with a circular series of magnetic elements, means tosupply caps to a lower portion of said disk, a fixed cap chute havingits cap receiving mouth bearing on an upper portion of said disk faceand including side walls adapted to engage diametrically oppositeportions of a cap skirt and a top wall provided with .a longitudinallyextending opening having a width corresponding to the diameter of a caplocking lever, said magnetic elements being movable along a capconveying path extending from said cap supply means to said ch-utemouth, a bar member fixed in said path adjacent said chute month, saidbar member including a surface parallel, opposite, and spaced from saiddisk face by a distance approximating the depth of a cap skirt, said barmember surface including an edge lying in said path of movement andfacing the disk axis and terminating at the upper edge of thelongitudinal opening of said chute top wall, and means to rotate saiddisk to move said magnetic elements along said path.

15. A mechanism of the character described in claim 14 wherein said barmember edge is straight and lies normal to a radius of said disk and atless distance from the disk axis than the radius of said circular seriesof magnetic elements.

16. A mechanism of the character described in claim 14 wherein theopposed edges of said chute top wall opening immediately adjacent thechute month are curved to be convex with respect to said disk axis, suchcurvature being on a radius suffi'ciently smaller than the radius ofsaid series of magnetic elements that caps will rotate on their own axeswhen moving into said chute mouth.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS800,288 Fulenwider Sept. 26, 1905 962,030 Kirkegalard June 21, 19101,049,525 Pearson Jan. 7, 1913 1,311,892 Hey Aug. 5, 1919 1,332,279Williams et al. Mar. 2, 1920 1,358,725 Gaynor Nov. 16, 1920 FOREIGNPATENTS 243,970 Germany Feb. 27, 1912

